Countryhills

Countryhills FLK DBG S NO284187 1 362 65m SOF

    Contrahill’ 1484 ADC i, *102 [‘a reversioun of the hale landis of Dunbolg and Contrahill’ of the some of xiic merkis’]
    Contrahillis 1484 ADC i, *102 [‘the twa p<air>t of the landis of Dunbulg and Contrahillis liand within the baronr’ of Ballinbrech’]
    Countrahillis 1486 Arb. Lib. ii no. 300 [see Dunbog DBG for context]
    Contrahillis 1504 RMS ii no.2793 [in barony of Ballinbreich; see Dunbog]
    Contrahillis 1563 RMS iv no. 1460 [see Dunbog]
    Kintrahill 1590 x 1599 Pont MS 54B
    Contrahillis 1603 RMS vi no. 1492 [see Dunbog]
    Countrahills 1628 Retours (Fife) no. 400 [see Dunbog]
    Contrahills 1654 Blaeu (Gordon) Fife
    Countriehills 1692 Retours (Fife) no. 1332 [Bannerman; see Dunbog]
    Countryhills 1775 Ainslie
    Countryhills 1828 SGF
    Countryhills 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn [house in Glenduckie, but in DBG]
    Countryhills 1888 x 1914 OS 6 inch 1st revision [at same site as 1855; it is not named on OS 1 inch 2nd edn (1898)]
    Countryhills 1927 OS 1 inch ‘Popular’ edn [applied to modern site in FLK]

? Sc contra or ? Sc countra + Sc hill

While this name looks remarkably transparent, in that both its elements appear to be relatively common Sc words, its meaning is less so. At first glance it would seem to contain Sc countra ‘country’, but what might this mean? The hills in question are presumably the low hills immediately west of the old site of Countryhills (for which see below), on the higher of which stands the modern farm of Higham, and perhaps including the low hill to the east, where modern Countryhills stands. What makes these hills any more ‘country’ than any of the other hills in the vicinity? It is more likely that the first element is related to Sc contra, contray ‘against’ (DOST), indicating that the eponymous hills (as described above) lie against or across the entrance to the valley through which an old routeway ran northwards from Dunbog to Ballinbreich (the valley itself being the eponymous glen of Glenduckie FLK). It remains, however, a very rare element (but compare Counterford (farm), Premnay ABD, mentioned, without early forms or explanation, in Alexander 1952, 233).

    It is clear from the early record, as well as from the OS 6 inch 1st edn, that Countryhills applied to a settlement in DBG, associated with Higham DBG by OS Name Book (for DBG) (41, 16). The above NGR is from OS Pathf. and OS Explorer. The NGR of Countryhills on OS 6 inch 1st edn is NO282187.

/ˈkʌntrɪ hɪlz/

This place-name appeared in printed volume 4